Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, one of the more highly anticipated biopics in recent years “underperforms” and falls a bit flat” says Kevin Bourne.
Don’t look now, but we’re in the midst of boom when it comes to biopics. Last year alone, there was Reagan (Ronald Reagan), Queen of the Ring (Mildred Burke), The Apprentice (Donald Trump), Bob Marley: One Love (Bob Marley), Unstoppable (Anthony Robles), Shirley (Shirley Chisolm), Saturday Night (Saturday Night Live), Back To Black (Amy Winehouse), and A Complete Unknown (Bob Dylan) to name a few. This year, we have The Smashing Machine (Mark Kerr), Christy (Christy Martin), and Swiped (Whitney Wolfe Herd) with many more in development for years to come.
But one of the more highly anticipated biopics in recent years is Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere. No, viewers and critics can’t be blamed for having high hopes for this film. I mean, we’re talking about The Boss; an icon as American as baseball and apple pie.
The film is set following the release of The River (1980) and leading up to the release of Nebraska (1982) as he grapples with his past, fame, and becoming Bruce Springsteen as we know it. In the film, we see a man who is still trying to hold onto normalcy as he transitions from his previous life as a small town boy to his new life as a Rock ‘n Roll superstar. But the film is less about Bruce Springsteen the star and more about Bruce Springsteen the man as we get a glimpse into his private battles. We see a man who was never really comfortable with fame. We also see him grapple with the abuse he suffered as a child which still looms over him despite his outward success.
Unfortunately, although there are some high notes, the film falls flat at times (yeah, that was corny, but true). While Jeremy Allen White delivers a pretty solid performance, there are moments when he looks more like Jeremy Allen White trying to play Bruce Springsteen than the man himself.
Also, there are glaring holes in the story, like how did Bruce Springsteen get into music in the first place? How did he learn to play the guitar and harmonica? The film jumps from Springsteen’s childhood to him being a star with no explanation of what happened in between. And although we get a bit of the Born In the USA origin story. It relegates the creation of his most successful album to date to being an afterthought as the film focuses on his darker album Nebraska. Adding some confusion to the film are the many flashbacks that almost present Springsteen as an only child before a little girl, who we are to assume is his sister, appears out of nowhere with no explanation before leaving, never to be seen again.
But all isn’t lost. Jeremy Strong and Odessa Young deliver strong, and dare I say Supporting Actor nomination worthy performances as Springsteen’s manager Jon Landau and love interest Faye. There are also some sentimental moments that make for good cinema, whether between Springsteen and his father Douglas (Stephen Graham), Springsteen and his love interest Faye, and Springsteen and Landau. These scenes are enough to tug on your heart strings, making the film one to watch if you’re a Springsteen fan. Still, with expectations for a film about such a major cultural and musical icon being very high, it feels like a wasted opportunity. In the end, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere unfortunately underperforms and falls a bit flat.
Kevin Bourne is SHIFTER’s Toronto-based editor and Senior Entertainment Reporter focusing on Black music and film & TV. He was named one of 340 international voters for the Golden Globe Awards and a Tomatometer-Approved Critic by Rotten Tomatoes.
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